Right, where do I even start?
Personally I didn't expect to be back so soon I hoped someone else would take over this account but am still waiting for them to RSVP but I also didn't expect Chelsea to bug me this much to make a comeback but here we are.

State of Chelsea[thread]

Defense:

Structurally much improved. Transitions are still sketchy especially in man-oriented counterpress were we struggle individually.

[Zonal]Man-oriented press is basically 1/2 players around the ball press while the rest fallback into zones/man-mark nearby opponents.

It's different from a space oriented counterpress from before were Chelsea struggled to consistently close down spaces after losing the ball. You basically had Jorginho running at opponents spreading his arms wide like a 'hen' trying to scare the opponent & calling Zouma backup.

Issue with man-orientation is if the pressing man is beat the rest of the team have to deal with their opponents individually so Alonso has to chase down a winger or Christensen has to track Mane etc but things could change once we get some proper matchups especially in midfield.

Offense:

How long is Chelsea willing to wait to chase down games? Title challenging teams normally win games early & basically rest the squad in-game or even use the rest of the game to try out new stuff but not Chelsea & you know why? Kante.

This is unpopular, let me explain:

Today was a weird game, normally 1st 30 mins would've been Chelsea trying to breakdown WBA while WBA hope to stay as long as possible in the game but the longer the game goes on patterns become redundant & WBA start to get comfortable which leads to some nervy last 15 mins.

Next thing you know we're on our knees for the half time whistle (this is what would've happened, *normally). Then in the 2nd half maybe Kante(after 300 tries) manages to combine his way into the box or finds a lucky runner with a pass & maybe Chelsea go up in the 87th.

But I can't count how many times(last 2 games) Kante has missed a play/transition when he decided switching was a good idea or playing a back pass, or just couldn't complete a pass or decided to turn around infront of goal & recycle possession.(yes that actually happened)

What am I saying? Kante simply shouldn't have this much time on the ball at Chelsea or anywhere, he's good for a lot of things not this. Take today, when Kante was dropped into 6 & didn't have as much ball as in the 1st half(when he was practically a deep playmaker) we scored 3.

Yes he still got on the ball as 6(& still tried to dribble through an entire WBA country countless times but he wasn't a controller the same way he was trying to be 1st half, do I make sense?

Let me bring Kai into this discussion to show you how bad Kante is making him look:

Kai isn't your typical *playmaker, he's not the guy that takes on defenders, he instead depends on combinations, Kai could play an entire match playing *simple 1/2 touches, all he needs is for his teammates to be on the same wavelength like CHO for that goal.

Kante on the other hand has zero understanding of what tempo control is, when the game is supposed to go quick with 1-2s to combine through an area he instead is doing a switch to apparently change the point of attack by passing to the goalkeeper. Dfkm.

Kai needs players around him who can generate tons of progressive passes & movements in close proximity. This is what Xavi did all day long, simply generate passes & isn't this what Jorginho does, like literally? If I had a DM I'd deffo play Jorginho #8 simply to facilitate Kai.

Of course the opponent matters, some games it's not about playmaking & breaking down opponents but simply being passive aggressive so in these games Kante+Rice makes absolute sense otherwise Jorginho+Rice would be unplayable. Unfortunately when Rice comes in Jorginho leaves. smh

I'll maybe talk about Mount in a later thread but I absolutely believe if Chelsea are to win titles & compete in tactical 'finals' then Kante simply can't be on the ball(DLP), opponents would be able to take out Kai pretty easily but having to deal with Kai & Jorginho is HARD.